Menard, you're better of taking extra virgin olive oil straight from the bottle. A couple of tablespoons 3 times a day and your joints will be singing. Plus, it's natural, cheap, easily available and you can control the dose as you see fit. If you can't stomach it plain, then add it to a smoothie. You won't even notice it.
Calcium is more readily absorbed when fat is present. So if you are taking calcium tablets, wash it down with a slice of bread with butter on it. Also, things like sunflower seeds and pine nuts are better for calcium intake than standard tablets. Your body absorbs the vitamins from food more readily than from tablets. And get your Vitamin D from sunlight. About 5 mins exposure per day on your face or the back of your hands is enough.
Thank you for sharing the advice.
I am familiar with what you have said, though I think other members will find benefit from it.
Presently, a calcium supplement is cheaper than several tablespoons a day of olive oil. A caveat to point out in this is that although olive oil has been tested with positive results in improving the mobilization, and hence absorption, of calcium within the body, the key is the presence of calcium. Constituents of olive oil have also been known to be able to break-up calcifications.
A little bit of olive oil, along with a diet and/or supplementation that includes a good amount of calcium, that the body can use, can be productive, in a theoretical sense.
The opposite can be true as well. If someone regularly supplements their diet with olive oil, more than usual, but does not get that much calcium either from foods or supplements, they can lose calcium at at an increase rate.
Though I would argue that minimum supplementation* with olive oil overall has the benefits outweigh the potential risk**.
*By supplementation, I mean like a tablespoon or less a day; not several table spoons.
**Want to argue, Zap; huh...huh...?
Vitamin D has a similar caveat. It's presence is necessary in order for the body to absorb calcium; as is the presence of magnesium and other minerals in order for the body to utilize it well. However, too much Vitamin D will push calcium out of the system.
Do keep in mind that too much Vitamin D means a lot of Vitamin D. Most of us will never even come close to the point, but someone who takes several supplements that contain Vitamin D, drinks fortified milk, eats fortified foods, and spends a good amount of time in the sun is asking for problems.
I take various supplements and am not shy of the sun. I would rather, though, that my calcium supplement did not have Vitamin D; I already get more than what I need through other sources. The Caltrate does have minerals that can benefit me in other ways as well. Some of those minerals can help to reduce the intensity tinnitus, of course if it has something to do with a deficiency of any of them, but I am hopeful anyway.
I am writing this as a generalization. I am not meaning to be presumptuous, as this is probably a lot of what you already know.
